


shouts turn into whispes

by idkimoutofideas



Series: safe at the end [2]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Athena Grant Acting as Evan "Buck" Buckley's Parental Figure, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Tag: s02e13 Fight or Flight, Evan "Buck" Buckley Needs A Hug, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Nightmares, Protective Athena Grant, fuck the buckley parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 04:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30083586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idkimoutofideas/pseuds/idkimoutofideas
Summary: Athena and Bobby set Buck up in the guest room, where he promptly fell asleep. Athena could only hope he would manage to get some actual rest in a real bed before rushing back to Maddie’s side. Not that she blamed him - the boy had all but gone crazy trying to find his sister, she wasn’t surprised he wanted to keep her in his sight.Athena comforts Buck when he has a nightmare about Maddie.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Athena Grant, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Maddie Buckley
Series: safe at the end [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2211624
Comments: 1
Kudos: 75
Collections: 9-1-1 Tales





	shouts turn into whispes

**Author's Note:**

> Set a day after the end of 'Fight or Flight'  
> You don't need to have read the first part of the series in order for this fic to make sense.
> 
> Title is from 'The Distance' by the Fever Dolls

Athena moved around her house as quietly as she could. Bobby and Buck had only returned from the hospital an hour or so ago, and she knew they needed rest. She’d managed to get a few hours of shut eye the previous night, but Buck had spent the whole time at the hospital, causing Bobby to worry about him instead of sleeping.

They’d set Buck up in the guest room, where he promptly fell asleep. Athena could only hope he would manage to get some actual rest in a real bed before rushing back to Maddie’s side. Not that she blamed him - the boy had all but gone crazy trying to find his sister, she wasn’t surprised he wanted to keep her in his sight.

One thing Athena couldn’t help but notice was that throughout the entire ordeal, neither Buckley sibling said a word about their parents. She wasn’t going to pry, but she wondered what kind of parent you had to be in order for your kids to not come to you after getting abducted by an abusive ex.

Athena was sitting on their couch, sipping coffee and attempting to read a book when a sudden crash drew her attention to the guest room. She quickly put down the mug and book and made her way towards the room.

The door to the guest room was slightly ajar, and Athena told herself she was just going to peek in to make sure Buck hadn’t broken something. Her eyes first landed on the empty bed, and a brief surge of panic rose up in her before she noticed a trail of blankets leading off the bed. She pushed the door open a little more so she could take a better look, and her eyes followed the direction of the blankets into the corner where she could just make out Buck’s outline. He was curled up on the floor, knees drawn to his chest and head tucked in his arms, clutching something in his hands.

Athena hesitated. She didn’t want to intrude, but she wanted to make sure he was ok. It wasn’t until she heard him take a shuddering breath that Athena even realized he was crying. Her heart clenched painfully in her chest, and before she could think twice she knocked lightly on the door and pushed it open.

“Buck-” Athena didn’t even get to finish her sentence before Buck was jumping to his feet.

“Athena,” Buck stumbled slightly as he stood, voice thick with tears, and he hastily wiped at his face. “Sorry I- I didn’t mean to bother you.” The lights were off, but a small amount of sunlight shone through the blinds, enough that Athena could see the tear tracks on his face that he couldn’t hide.

“You didn’t.” Athena assured him, pushing the door open enough that she could step into the room and closer to him. “You doing alright?” It was a stupid question to ask, she’d seen him while Maddie was missing, she knew that just because they’d found her it didn’t mean the ordeal was all over.

Buck nodded jerkily. “I’m fine.” His voice was so small, and Athena knew he didn’t believe what he was saying. He was twisting whatever item he was holding in his hands and avoiding her gaze studiously, shoulders hunched like he was trying to take up as little space as possible.

Athena took another step towards him. “I wouldn’t blame you if you weren’t.” She said gently. Buck seemed to shrink in on himself even more, and he clutched the object he was holding tighter to his chest, hands shaking. It took Athena a moment to recognize that the object was a shirt, and took another moment to realize it was one of Maddie’s.

Her heart broke again. “Oh Buckaroo,” Athena stepped forward and pulled him into a tight hug before she could think better of it. He froze, and she was worried he was going to push her away, but then he was collapsing into her arms, shaking apart without a sound. He had to duck down to bury his face against her shoulder, and she felt his tears slowly start staining her shirt.

“Alright Buck, it’s alright,” Athena took a step backwards so they could both sit on the bed, adjusting their position to be more comfortable. He was sobbing quietly, his breaths little more than muffled gasps, and her mothering instinct was out in full force as she held him, rubbing his back comfortingly as she did her best to keep him together.

If Athena had to guess, she would say this was the first time Buck let himself actually feel all the emotions of the past few days, and she was impressed he hadn’t shattered under the stress of keeping it all in. At first, he’d been too keyed up with anxiety over Maddie’s disappearance to despair. After she caught him stealing Chimney’s phone, when she was lecturing his ear off, she’d seen tears welling in his eyes, but he’d shut down before it could go much further than that. For a while after that he hadn’t acted with much emotion at all, had been the quietest she’d ever heard him, and that worried her more than anything. Athena saw a few tears slip out when he was accompanying Maddie into the ambulance, but knew he had been keeping himself together for his sister's sake. She hadn’t seen him since then, but he’d spent the entire time at the hospital, and Athena knew him well enough to know he would feel like he had to stay strong for Maddie.

This was the culmination of all the pain and worry and frustration and panic of the last two days finally catching up to him. Athena was more than happy to be there for him, to be able to comfort him when he was clearly struggling.

They stayed there for a long time, Buck sobbing silently as Athena held him together, murminging comforts and rubbing his back. He felt small in her arms, a truly impressive feat considering he had almost a foot on her. Slowly, his sobs began to fade and he stopped shaking quite so violently. His breaths evened out to a point where he wasn’t gasping, and at long last he pulled back from the hug, immediately going to wipe at his face.

“Sorry- I’m sorry.” Buck whispered, his voice rough.

“Nuh-uh, don’t apologize Buckaroo.” Athena said seriously. Buck pulled back at the tone of her voice, curling in on himself again. Athena blew out a slow breath and forced all of her emotions to the side. “I’m proud of you, Buck.” He froze at her words like a deer caught in headlights. “Of you _and_ your sister. You both went through a lot in the past few days, and no one expects you to come out the other side acting like nothing happened.”

Buck shook his head, wrapping his arms around himself. “No I- I’m not the one who got kidnapped. Or stabbed.”

“No,” Athena agreed, “but it still hurts to be the person left behind.” He wouldn’t meet her gaze, and Athena placed a hand on his shoulder. “You worried yourself sick over your sister. Stole evidence from a crime scene,” that got a small smile, “traveled with me across half the state, and didn’t stop until you found her.” He glanced up at her then, blue eyes wide, and Athena was struck by just how _small_ he looked.

“You did good.” She said. He nodded and scrubbed a hand across his face, slumping over even more. She could tell the exhaustion was catching up to him again. “Get some rest. Bobby and I will be right out there if you need anything.” 

Buck nodded distractedly, eyes already fluttering shut, and he easily fell over into the bed, pulling the covers over him halfheartedly. Athena picked up the blanket he had dropped on the ground and laid it across him as well, taking a moment to brush hair out of his eyes as he already dropped off into sleep. She sat on the edge of the bed for another moment, watching as his breathing evened out, before she stood up and made her way to the door. She spared one more glance behind her, a small smile crossing her face before she exited, leaving the door open a crack behind her.


End file.
